Breech-loading breakdown gun



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. E. WHITMORE. BREEGH LOADING BREAKDOWNGUN.

Patented July 29, 1890.,

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A. E. WHITMORE. vBRBBGH LOADING BRBAKDUWN GUN.

No. 483,262. Patented July 29, 189,0.A

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW E. VHITMORE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

BREECH-LOADING BREAKDOWN GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,262, dated July 29,1890. Application led January 27, 1890. Serial No. 388,269. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW E. WHITMORE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-LoadingFire-Arms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to breech-loading fire-arms, more particularlythat class termed internal-hammer guns.

My present invention may be considered as pertaining to a similar classof re-arms underLetters Patent No. 386,174, issued July 17, 1888, tomyself.

The said invention relates, chiefly, to improvements in mechanism forlocking and unlocking the triggers, and compensating for wear in thebreech-block. Moreover, l have introduced improvements in the train ofparts by which the extractor is operated and. the

hammers cocked in the act of opening the weapon.

The improvements in which said invention consists will be hereinafterparticularly set forth and claimed.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure l, alongitudinal vertical sectional elevation in part of an internalhammergun embodying my invention, such weapon being closed and the hammersdown, but with the triggers free to move. Fig. 2 is a similar viewshowing the weapon open and with the triggers blocked, while the hammersare cocked. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the front end of thebreech-block containing the joint circle. Fig. fi is a sectional plan ofthe same, showing the tapered compensating pin. Fig. 5 is across-sectionof said pin. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the trigger and Sear, showingthe adj Listing-screw for causing positive engagement of the two.

In the above class of fire-arms several of the operating elements whichgo to form. the same are so arranged that upon movement of the top leverand breaking of the weapon the hammer or hammers are cocked.Consequently when the weapon is closed it is in readiness to beimmediately discharged. j

One object of my invention is to prevent premature discharges andaccidents occasioned by carelessness or negligence in not moving thethumb-slide to block the triggers or hammers, as the case may be, andafter the weapon has been closed, at which time the hammers are cocked.

To obviate such accidents and to automatically bloek the triggers uponopening of the weapon, and prior to the act of cooking the hammersoccasioned by such opening, is the primary object of this invention.

The drawings represent the rear part of the barrels at A, thebreech-block at B, the extractor at O, fore-end at D, and joint circleat E. The hammer is shown at a, the cookinglever at h, cooking-pin at o,connecting-lever at d, and the extractor-lever at e, pivoted to thefore-end D, and actuated by a push-pin f through the agency of the jointcircle.

, In my previous invention the connectingrod (l had sliding motion inthe stem of the extractor. In the present instance I have made aconnecting-lever CZ, and pivoted it to the extractor-stem, the latterbeing slotted to contain it. Moreover, I have rendered the cooking-pin cspring-actuated, as follows: Transversely theieof and toward the lowerend is placed a pin g, securely fixed in the barrel-lug. The upper endof the cooking-pin is recessed at h, and contains a springt', whichbears against the pin g as a fixed point, While the tension of suchspring is exerted against the upper closed end of the cooking-pin; henceupon closing of the weapon the spring acts to retract the cooking-pinand disengage it from the nose of the cooking-lever to permit the hammerto fall when a pull on the trigger occurs. Thus in practice I find theabove train of parts works very satisfactorily, since by pivoting theconnecting-lever d and operating the extractor-lever e by means of thepush-pin f the parts are operated more easily. The action of these partsis as follows:

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After discharge of the Weapon the relative y position of the parts is asindicated in Fig. 1,. In the act of breaking the Weapon the joint circlethrusts the push-pin f outwardly against the pivotal end of theextractor-lever, while the free end of the latter swings rearwardly. Atthis time it wipes against the connectinglever CZ and the end of theextractor-stem, which latter is actuated to discharge the empty shells.lVith this act the connecting-lever d is rocked against the cocking-pin,and the latter is advanced slightly and held rigidly against the ends ofthe cocking-lever while the hammer is being raised.

` To block the trigger prior to cooking of the hammers in the act ofopening the weapon, is, however, one of the primary features of thisinvention. I propose to accomplish this by means of the locking-bolt 7o,the eccentricshaft l, lever F, and an intermediary rod m, which actuatesoperating mechanism to the thumb-slide. The lever F, its swinging blockand bolt are arranged as usual; likewise the slide G, positioned in rearof the lever F. Interiorly of the breech-frame and pivoted thereto isdisposed a forked or bell lever fn, one arm of which engages beneath thethumbslide G, or safety, so called. The other arm enters laterally ofthe stop p, pivotally affixed upon the breech-frame. Pendent from thisstop is a lug or finger r, which is adapted to swing over the top of therear end of the trigger or triggers and block them at intervals of time,as desired, and controlled by the thumbslide.

To actuate the stop p to block the triggers and place the thumb-slide atsafety coincident with the withdrawal of the locking-bolt in the act ofbreaking down the weapon, I have interposed the intermediary rod fm,which at one end engages a slot s, cnt in the rear extremity of thelocking-bolt, and at the other end rests against the front face of thependent lug fr on the stop. Thus, upon retracting the locking-bolt bymeans of the eccentric-shaft and its lever F, the rod m is pushedrearwardly, and a positive motion is imparted to the stop p, which isrocked to place the lug r above the rear end of the trigger or triggers.Such action has rocked the bell-lever n and caused the thumb-slide Gr tobe placed at safety. Vhen the weapon has been loaded and closed, thehammers are at full-cock; but the triggers have been automaticallyblocked and will so continue until the thumb-slide is removed from itsposition of safety. At this time reverse rocking of the bell-lever noccurs, when the pendent lug 'r is swung forward to release thetriggers. Simultaneouslythe rod m is thrust forward, andis now inreadiness to repeat its previous function should the locking-bolt bemoved. From this it is evident that the weapon is perfectly safe, sincethe triggers are blocked and the thumb-slide at safety every time theweapon is opened.

The other prominent feature of my invention consists in mechanism forobviatin g wear between the ends of the barrel and the face of thebreech-block to prevent escape of gas. In Figs. 3 and 5 I have shownsuch mechanism, which consists, primarily, in a compensating pintransversely through the front end of the breech-frame. rlhis pin isshouldered, as shown in Fig. 5 in cross-section, to prevent its turningor shifting axially. Further, the front side is straight or parallelwith the end of the breech-frame, while the rear surface is tapered andbears in part against the end of the barrel-lug H, pendent beneath thebarrels. This compensating pin is bored lengthwise, and is adapted toreceive end adjusting-screws @c laterally disposed in the breech-block.Moreover, since axial rotation of the pin t is stopped movement of thescrews by advance of one or retreat of the other will cause thecompensating pin to have right-line movement, and since the barrel-lugHis in contact with the tapered portion of the pin the barrels arereadily adjusted against the breech-block to compensate for any wear andto prevent gas-vent.

The last feature of my improvements is embodied in a compensating devicewhereby the hammer, when being thrown back, is caused to strike theupper portion of the sear in order to lift the nose ofV the latter andeffect a positive engagement of said scar with the full-cock notch ofthe hammer. As shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, I have cast or formed ahorn e on the upper part of the sear I and to the rear of its pivot.This horn is in proximity to the back of the hammer when the latter isat full-cock. Transversely of such horn I have inserted anadjusting-screw y, which can by turning be made to project more or lesstoward the hammer. By such means the hammer, when in the act of beingthrown back and just before the sear engages with the full-cock notch,strikes the screw y in the scar. As a result the nose of the sear isbrought positively against the hammer, and when the full-cock notch isreached the sear cannot fail to enter and engage said notch.

1. The combination, with thelever, its rotating eccentric-shaft, thelocking-bolt, and the triggers, of the stop pivotal above the trigger,the pendent lug from said stop, and the intermediary rod whichinterconnects said locking-bolt and the pivotal stop to block thetriggers in the act of opening the weapons, substantially as herein setforth.

2. In combination, the trigger or triggers, the pivotal stop with itspendentlug, the th umb-slid e,its ro ckingbell-lever, which serves tounite the thumb-slide with the stop, the snap-lever, its eccentric-shaftand lockingbolt, and the intermediary rod by which the locking-boltpositively actuates the pivotal stop to block the trigger or triggers,substan-V tially as and for purposes herein specified..

3. The combination, with the extractor, its operating parts, thefore-end, and the cond necting-lever pivotally in the extractor-stem, ofa cocking-pin swinging with the barrel, receiving leverage action fromthe connectingr- IOO IIO

lever and having endwise movement in the barrel-lug to engage thecooking-lever, substantially as and for purposes stated.

4. In combination, the extractor, the eX- t-ractor-lever, its push-pin,the fore-end, and the connecting-lever pivotally in the extractor-stem,the spring-actuated cooking-pin .swinging with the barrel and havingendwise movement'to engage the cooking-lever', said movement beingproduced by means of the connecting-lever (Z, substantially as' and forpurposes stated.

5. The combination, with the fore part of the breech-frame and thebarrel-lug therein, of the tubular compensating pin tapered upon therear side and shouldered lengthwise to prevent axial movement, andtheend adjusting-screws by which the pin is shifted transversely of thebarrel-lug, as and for purposes set forth and stated.

6. In lire-arms, the combination, with the sear and hammer, of acompensating screw adj ustably secured in said Sear and adapted to bringthe Sear-nose and hammer positively into contact by the meeting of saidscrew with the hammer at a point to rear of the searpivot, substantiallyas herein set forth.

In testimony7 whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREV E. VVIIITMORE.

Witnesses:

H. E. LODGE, FRANoIsC. STANWooD.

